Free Republic has a copy of a must-read article in the Wall Street Journal by Keith Johnson and David Crawford, on the new breed of Islamic warrior.

Evidence in the Madrid train bombings points to the participation of a new breed of Islamic holy warrior, unfettered by many of the religious and ideological constraints that defined Islamic terrorism in the past.

These Islamist warriors — schooled in the North African doctrine known as Takfir wal Hijra and trained by Afghan veterans of al Qaeda — think, recruit and operate differently from traditional Islamist networks. For Europe, that makes the threat particularly acute. The Takfir movement is strongest in Morocco and Algeria, the primary sources of Muslim immigration to Western Europe. Takfiri theorists openly advocate using immigration as a Trojan horse to expand jihad, or holy war.

Investigators have yet to pin definite blame for the Madrid attacks on any one group. Attention has focused on the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group as well as several other al Qaeda splinter groups. Moroccan officials say the leading suspect in the Madrid bombings, Tangier-born Jamal Zougam, is Takfiri.

Friday, German prosecutors said police in Darmstadt, near Frankfurt, raided an apartment used briefly last October by one of the suspects arrested last week in Spain. The 28-year-old Moroccan had applied to live and study in Germany but was turned down. Spanish police on Saturday also found a safe house outside Madrid where they believe the backpack bombs were prepared; fingerprints from two jailed suspects, including Mr. Zougam, were found in the house.

Many elements common to the suspects in custody for the Madrid bombings so far, investigators say, bear hallmarks of the ultrafundamentalist Takfiris or their close cousins, the Algerian-based Salafists. These include the use of petty crime and drug trafficking to raise funds, the recruitment of women, and operatives who adopt a Western lifestyle to keep a low profile. The virulent brand of Takfiri Islam makes all-out armed jihad an obligation for all true believers; even apostate fellow Muslims are fair game.